Weekly Report - 06 December 2018 (WR-18-48)

BRAZIL: The end of pork barrel politics?

With President-elect Jair Bolsonaro’s cabinet almost complete, attention is now turning to the level of support he can expect to have in the incoming federal congress. Bolsonaro has promised not to engage in the pork barrel politics that have traditionally characterised the relationship between government and congress in Brazil. While his rejection of the ‘toma-lá-dá-cá’ (literally, ‘take there, give here’) system of distributing ministerial positions and other favours to political parties in exchange for support can, arguably, be but a good a thing, some believe that Bolsonaro’s disregard for the traditional politics game will cost him a solid support base in the legislature.